And speaking of Middle Eastern food . . .
I had an aborted lunch attempt at Mister Falafel this afternoon. I've been frequenting Mister Falafel ever since I moved back to Park Slope in 1987. Today, when I sat down, I was assaulted by the sound of a radio announcer. It turned out to be a "classic rock" station, and the music was at least as bad as the DJ. When the waitress brought me the menu I said, "I don't know if anybody else has mentioned this, but the radio is very loud."
"Oh, is it?" she said.
"Yes, annoyingly so," I said. The waitress walked away without responding. I hoped she was going to do something about the radio.
I began to peruse the menu, trying to decide what to order, leaning toward kibbeh. Meanwhile, the waitress was attending to other tables, and the radio kept blasting. I decided that there was no way I could enjoy a meal under those conditions, so I got up, put my coat on and started walking out. Before I left, I got the attention of the counter man, whom I've known for several years, and said, loud enough for the whole restaurant to hear, "I'll be back some time when you're not playing such loud, shitty music." It must have been "the energy" talking.
I ended up having a Chinese quesadilla for lunch (more about Chinese tortilla joints later).
"Oh, is it?" she said.
"Yes, annoyingly so," I said. The waitress walked away without responding. I hoped she was going to do something about the radio.
I began to peruse the menu, trying to decide what to order, leaning toward kibbeh. Meanwhile, the waitress was attending to other tables, and the radio kept blasting. I decided that there was no way I could enjoy a meal under those conditions, so I got up, put my coat on and started walking out. Before I left, I got the attention of the counter man, whom I've known for several years, and said, loud enough for the whole restaurant to hear, "I'll be back some time when you're not playing such loud, shitty music." It must have been "the energy" talking.
I ended up having a Chinese quesadilla for lunch (more about Chinese tortilla joints later).
posted by Peter Cherches at 3:00 PM
1 Comments:
There must have been falafel in the air this day, as I have a tale to tell directly from San Jose, CA own famous Falafels Drive In. I hadn't been to the place in a while and decided it would be the right move for luch and very close to my office.
I order my Falafel salad to go and 2 red sauce [hot & spicey]. It's comes in one of those foam containers, full of lettuce, chopped tomatoes and cucumbers and that tahini based sauce over it all. The falafel here are really terrific; dark brown on the outside. They fall apart easily,tender inside showing this interesting green color inside that's hard to describe, other than it's good stuff and business is always brisk. Back to red sauce....... in the past always came in small clear covered dixie type containers. I ask where the sauce is and he opens the box and says "Here" meaning that they put it into the food already. When I told the owner, who frequents the counter, that I prefer it on the side, brings my order over to the red sauce area, tells me "It's much easier for US this way" and dumps a bunch more on top and asks "Say When?"
I take my $6 lunch back to the office and get through this spicest falafel I've ever had! Next trip, I'll be sure to announce in no uncertain terms "I WANT MY RED SAUCE IN A CONTAINER ON THE SIDE...NO NOT PUT IT ON TOP OF MY FOOD!!
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